


Trades and Truces

by pottermum



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Gen, Ginny being annoying, Grumpy Harry, alls well that ends well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:28:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23853073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pottermum/pseuds/pottermum
Summary: Someone is bound to get hurt when Harry and Ginny trade their trademark spells and hexes
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Comments: 2
Kudos: 55





	Trades and Truces

Harry Potter slammed the door of Grimmauld Place, getting some sort of satisfaction from the loud sound. He almost wished Walburga Black was still stuck on the wall; she would have been shrieking by now, and he was in the mood to yell at somebody. 

He shrugged his cloak off, removed his wand and then yanked the scarf from around his neck, meaning to hang it on the hook in the hall, but of course, it missed and fell to the floor. Bloody scarf!

He bent to pick it up and rehang it, then moved down the hall. Looking ahead, he saw Ginny stick her head out the kitchen doorway, looked surprised to see him, looked at her watch then back at him. 

“You just left for work a couple of hours ago. Are you all right?” she asked coming to him and looking him over for injuries. 

“No, I'm not all right, I'm mad, is what I am,” he retorted. 

She put her hands on her hips at his abrupt tone. “Well, don't take it out on me,” she replied. “What happened?” 

He stalked into the lounge and began pacing, too caught up in his mood to sit. 

“Harry?” 

He looked at her. 

“I've been suspended for a week,” he admitted. “I lost my temper and hexed someone.” 

This was not like Harry. Someone must have really pissed him off.

“Why did you lose your temper and who did you hex?” she asked.

“It was that reporter, no, not Skeeter, but he obviously went to the Rita Skeeter school of bad journalism. He tracked me all around the Ministry, asking stupid questions. I told him to piss off, he could see he was getting to me, but when he asked me to clarify a rumour about Teddy, well, I lost it.” 

He sighed in annoyance, running his hands through his hair.

Ginny shrugged. “Sounds like he deserved it. I don't think that deserves a week of suspension though.” 

He stopped pacing and looked at her. 

“I really meant to shut him up, Gin, and you know it's all about intent,” he said, then sighed again. “He had to go to St Mungo's.” 

Ginny raised both eyebrows. 

“Harry, what -” she began, when Harry burst out – 

“ I Bat Bogey hexed him.” 

Ginny blinked. “You what?” 

He sighed again; he wasn't proud of his actions. 

“I Bat Bogey hexed him,” he enunciated clearly. 

There was silence, then – 

“That's my hex,” she replied. 

Harry blinked. That was her concern? 

“Well, it's not like you own it; like you are the only one allowed to do it,” he said.

She snorted. “ Of course I'm not the only one allowed to use it. I mean, technically it's a dark curse, but still... I'm known for my Bat Bogey hex.” 

“Are you kidding me right now, because I'm already pissed and this is not helping,” he told her. 

“What? How would it be if I went around Expelliarmus-ing everyone. Expelliarmus!” she cried, and Harry's wand went flying from his hand to hers. 

She grabbed it and twirled it, arching one eyebrow in challenge. 

“Very funny, give it back,” he said, hand out. 

“Fine,” she said, walking to him and handing it over. 

He took it, throwing her an annoyed look when she smirked at him, stuck it in his back jeans pocket and prepared to go upstairs and change. 

“Expelliarmus.” 

He felt the wand leave his pocket and once again, go flying into Ginny's hand.

“Ginny, come on,” he said, annoyed. 

He thought he heard her mutter 'grumpy-ass' but she handed the wand over straight away and he continued upstairs to change. 

He decided to take a shower, and felt the stress of the last hour ease away. While he had accepted that he would likely always be under public scrutiny, his three year old godson was not. Most reporters knew Harry wouldn't talk about Ginny or Teddy or anything to do with his personal life but this one just kept pushing and pushing till he had snapped.

He didn't know why he pulled out Ginny's signature Bat Bogey hex, but he just wanted to shut the shoddy journalist up, him and his horrible comments and insinuations. 

Harry dried off and returned to their bedroom to change into a tee shirt and sweat pants. He felt better now he was home, although he did think Ginny was right, a one week suspension did seem a bit much. 

He returned downstairs to find a note from Ginny saying she had gone for a run. He wondered if she had done it to give him time to cool down, and appreciated the gesture. 

When she returned, she found Harry in the kitchen when she came to grab a drink of water. They eyed each other in silence then Ginny went to the lounge to start stretching. 

He felt a bit bad, taking his bad mood out on Ginny but he knew the way to make her smile was to prepare her favourite meal. 

“I might get a start on dinner,” he said casually, “ do some prep.” 

“It's a bit early,” she replied. 

“I'm making your favourite, my eggplant lasagne,” he told her. “I'll need to run to the grocer's for some ingredients, though.” 

Ginny smiled. “That sounds lovely. Want me to come with you?” 

And all was forgiven. “No, you keep on with your stretches. I won't be long.” 

It felt good to be doing something, to have a plan so he didn't sit and brood about what he had done. He left Grimmald Place, looking tentatively for any reporters from the Daily Prophet, and when he saw none, he breathed easier and left for the local Tesco, glad to be able to blend in with Muggle life. 

Returning home, he and Ginny worked together in the kitchen. They worked well together; he knew what he was doing and she was keen to follow his instructions. However, when he reached for his wand to Accio some plates, Ginny used his famous spell against him once more, handing his wand back to him immediately with that damn smirk. 

He began to get annoyed again, as she did it over and over. 

“Ginny, stop it,” he ordered, after he had put the lasagne in to cook. 

“Make me,” she dared with a laugh, “ I dare you to Bat Bogey hex me.” 

“All right then,” he said, and once he got his wand back, he said the incantation for her hex. 

“Ow, fuck,” she cried, immediately grabbing her nose. “Fuck, that hurts.” 

“Shit, Ginny, I'm sorry,” he said, running over to help her. “You shouldn't have pushed me.” 

“Exbelliarbus,” she said, reaching for his wand as it flew towards her. She grabbed it and waved it in front of her face. “Finite.” 

“Here, let me look,” he offered, and she sat back while he cleaned her up, swearing every time he tweaked it. She winced, touching her nose tenderly once he was done. 

“Now I know why my brothers are scared when I say I'll hex them,” she conceded. “It fucking hurts.” 

“At least my Expelliarmus never hurt anyone,” Harry couldn't resist saying. 

“Er, I think Voldemort would disagree,” she retorted dryly. 

There was silence as they looked at each other, then both burst into laughter. 

“Ow, don't make me laugh,” ordered Ginny, rubbing her nose.

“Let me see.” Harry got up close and personal, practically right in her face before he stole a kiss...then another. 

She pushed him away. “I'm hungry. Feed me.” 

He went to pull away but she loped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him back for another quick kiss.

She watched as he pulled their meal out of the oven, dished it up and served them. Over the meal he told her exactly what the journalist had suggested about Teddy; that he was really Harry's love child, conceived with Hermione while they were on the Horcrux hunt. 

Such rumours had come up several times, especially after the battle when Harry was seen with baby Teddy. Both an angry Harry and Hermione had faced the reporters, emphatically denying the rumours, but it had been a furious Andromeda Tonks whose rage had silenced the initial story; it seemed the Black family name still carried some prestige. 

But the rumours prevailed and rose from time to time...like today. 

By the time Harry had finished, he nearly had to use a sticking charm to restrain Ginny from going after the reporter he had hexed earlier. Although they knew it was pointless trying to stop the rumour mill, they didn't want Teddy to be subjected to any idea that Tonks and Remus were not his parents. 

He distracted her by asking her to help him with the dishes. While he washed and she wiped, they both came up with the idea of taking Teddy for a picnic the next day. 

“You know,” began Ginny conversationally, “when you cast the bat Bogey hex, you flick your wrist too much. It adds too much to the hex, unless you really want to hurt someone.” 

She demonstrated using one of the kitchen utensils, showing him how he was doing it wrong. 

“Well, you're saying the spell wrong. It's Ex-pell-i-AR-mus, not ExpelliarmMUS,” he said defensively. 

She laughed, having heard of Ron and Hermione's legendary LEVIOSA lesson. 

“Let's call a truce, shall we?” suggested Ginny. 

“A truce and a promise, that neither of us will use the other's spell, unless absolutely forced to,' suggested Harry, with a laugh. 

“Deal.” And they shook hands.


End file.
